Mortal Kombat: Rabbit
by FRANZAKERS
Summary: Some call him weak. Many call him odd. Everybody agrees with insane. But he's just a "mere" dealer with a "particular set of skills" ...
1. Chapter 1

**Heya! If you're reading this then this is a revised chapter! :D Anyway, to all of those followers of mine who still haven't read this, all I can say is that I HAVE TO LET THESE THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD BE WRITTEN OR ELSE I'LL DIE! To those Mortal Kombat readers ... I hope you guys enjoy this :)**

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**I**

**How it all Began**

Lightning flashed on the dark and dull grey canvass of the stormy sky and the rumble of a thunder shortly followed. Francis looked up at the sky with annoyance, it was going to rain soon and he has places to be before that would happen. He checked his watched for the umpteenth time and let out a groan of frustration. If his watch was correct, which it obviously was, then he was standing and waiting in this meeting place for almost two hours and counting.

The meeting place wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. An old park in the middle of a square-shaped apartment that has long since been abandoned when a newer one was built inside the confines of the city, Francis fondly remembered times when he was still a little kid playing in the see-saws and the obstacle courses of this park when he came to visit his grandmother. Now the see-saws were rusty and the obstacle courses were obstructed, choked with plant life while his grandmother was with god and the angels above. To him, this place only served as a rendezvous point or a meeting location for his various dealings. Aside from it being a very ideal location, so far it's the only location available for him to use in his business without wasting money and risking prison.

His rather long wait was suddenly stopped when a SUV parked outside the old apartment building. Quite a shiny and professional-looking SUV to be exact. Four men stepped out of the car, and like the car they were riding, they too looked professional. They wore tuxedoes and glasses, as if the one they were guarding was the president of the United States and not a buyer of illegal weapons. Their clothing alone told him many things about their boss; the one he was having a deal with. The four men also looked like they visit the gym frequently, their muscles straining against their tuxedoes. They look like professionals that are costly to pay; it told Francis that the one he's dealing with was filthy rich. The briefcases in their hands also tipped him off.

Finally, the man who Francis had a deal with went out of the car. Wearing a grey suit and cool shades that matches, the man looked like a stereotypical mobster or corrupt corporate executive. In other words; a perfect buyer, someone that has a high chance of not fucking shit up.

Grinning under his mask, Francis smoothed his dark suit and trained his eyes at the open briefcases in front of him but not before he saw—or rather, he thought he saw—a red light glowing from the passenger seat of his buyer's SUV. He quickly returned his glance at the exact same spot but he didn't find anything there and the tint's too dark anyway. Only a fool would not be suspicious and only an amateur wouldn't mind it. Francis isn't a fool nor an amateur, he kept that mysterious red light in mind but he decided to let it go for now, he would hopefully have time to investigate it later. Hopefully. That red light just sent red lights flashing and alarm bells ringing in his head.

"You rabbit?" a gruff voice said and Francis returned his attention to the man that was now standing in front of him. Smoking a cigar and trying to look like someone that you don't want to piss off. His tough-boss act doesn't have an effect on Francis though. He has had deals with people that were far more dangerous than this man.

They were so dangerous that Francis had to kill them or they'll kill him, _try _to kill him to be exact, with extreme difficulty.

…

The buyer wasn't impressed nor was he pleased with what lay before him. He had half a mind to order his bodyguards to just kill this guy, get his weapons and be done with it. Nobody could really blame him, the weapons dealer was wearing a black suit—the quintessential classic business attire with a red necktie, black leather gloves and tic-tac shoes but his physique wasn't even imposing. No muscles bulged and instead the guy looked scrawny, the only thing unusual about his body was his height which the buyer guessed to be approximately 6'5 or something; easily half a head taller than the guys he brought with him.

And then there's the guy's mask.

The buyer normally doesn't mind what the guys he's in business with wears but the one standing in front of him was just plain ridiculous. The man was wearing some sort of bunny mask. A mask made of wood painted white and drawn with the likeness of a rabbit but it was drawn in a cartoony sort of way; the mouth was just a '3' turned around, line-like whiskers at the sides, the nose was just an inverted triangle and the eyes were dark red orbs of glass, hiding the eyes of the man underneath. Then there were those two ridiculous bunny ears atop the mask!

"You rabbit?" he asked.

The man bowed, slightly. "Indeed I am Rabbit, esteemed buyer."

Underneath his glasses, the buyer's eyes slightly widened in surprise at the guy's voice. It was as smooth as the smoothest of silks with a hint of what he registers as something that a cultured liar sounds.

"Well, where's the goods?" he asked impatiently. "I don't have all day"

The man turned towards the briefcases on the table separating the two of them and the buyer saw that this 'Rabbit' guy's hair was moderately shaven. Not too thick, not too thin and obviously not bald either.

'All in all, this masked man is a curious Earthrealmer.'

…

"I see that my esteemed buyer is impatient so …" the Rabbit started, clicking each of the five briefcases containing his goods, which are heavily customized M4A1 assault rifles, shut. "I won't waste my oh-so precious time, and yours, by listing all the good things about these weapons but I assure you they are superb, well-kept and will serve you well in your future … endeavours"

"So" he leaned over, hands on the table and the glass 'eyes' of his mask glinting. "Shall we conclude our business?"

The buyer seemed thoughtful for a moment before nodding and gesturing at one of his muscle-bound bodyguards to hand over the money. Francis, or Rabbit, eyed each of the bodyguards as they placed their own briefcases, opened it for Rabbit's eyes to feast upon before they took the equivalent briefcase from the weapons dealer.

The sight of the dollars on the open briefcases was enough to make Rabbit happy. By no means is he a greedy man, he carefully avoids from being one, but the thought that the work was done was enough to satisfy him and his life's needs for, by the looks of things, half a year.

The sound of a safety lock getting disengaged made him frown though.

…

The buyer, on the other hand, was considerably happy about how this situation turned out. His bodyguards now have the recently purchased weapons locked, loaded and aimed at the weapon seller's ridiculous mask. What's more was that everything was going according to plan! If this continues to go as planned, which it obviously is, then they'll get the weapons and the cash without a hitch.

"Boss" one bodyguard asked, cocking his head towards the masked man. "What'll we do with him?"

For a reply, he simply raised an eyebrow. It was painstakingly obvious what they'll do with him.

"What you'll do to me is quite simple" They were startled by Rabbit's slightly louder voice. And the buyer, and his bodyguards, can't help but shoot him a sceptical glance. "You'll be letting me go with these briefcases over here" he said, waving a hand over each briefcase theatrically. "But if you're feeling particularly generous today, gentlemen. I'd be very happy if you let me go with my weapons … as an act of goodwill, one might say"

The buyer and his bodyguards stared at him for a moment right before laughing. Who can blame them? This Rabbit was obviously trying to save his ass!

"I'll take that as a no then" Rabbit said and the buyer barely heard his theatrical voice amidst the loud laughter. He took a little remote that was similar to a car's and pushed the big red button on it.

Immediately after he pushed it, his bodyguards stopped laughing and instead started screaming, yelping, and—to the buyer's utmost shock and disappointment—squealing. The rifles in their hands started sparking and sending little surges of electricity to the muscle-bound men that currently wields them.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk" the Rabbit was shaking his head in a disappointed manner and it made the buyer's blood boil. "I was hoping for a meagre day. I give guns and you give money. Simple! Why can't people be simple even for a moment!" he complained and the buyer briefly wondered about the Rabbit's sanity.

Briefly, because his bodyguards were slowly reaching for their holdout pistols and after a few moments of waiting, this earthrealmer and his cunning mouth will be—

Six loud barks. Six dead men. Six of his bodyguards dead before he even realized it, when he got a good look at their bodies, he saw that there were neat circular holes on their foreheads. Neat circular holes that were exhausting blood.

The buyer looked in shock at the masked man, the ridiculous mask now looking disturbing and sinister in his eyes. A pistol was in his right hand, a desert eagle in fact, a desert eagle now pointed straight at him.

Another loud bark and the buyer found himself looking at the dull grey canvass of a sky in turmoil. It was the last scene that he remembered.

…

'What a waste of life' Rabbit thought with a frown, a frown obviously hidden behind his mask. His thoughts doesn't mean much to him though, it was simply his reaction to the way things are—'the way things are' was something that he can't change no matter what he does. It also didn't disturb him. He has seen, and occasionally dealt, more morally deprived and more gruesome deaths but his emotional response to the sight of fresh corpses was still a disappointment that he can't act on. Quitting was an option, but he was in too deep in this business. There's no way he could return to living a normal life. It's not just the police but the criminal underworld would also go after him.

Rabbit shook his head and sighed as he returned his 'sidearm' back to its hidden holster inside his suit. Normally, this would cause an unusual bulge and would be heavy and obvious on a normal suit but Rabbit's suit was far from normal. A suit made by one of the best 'tailors' in the black market, it certainly cost him a fortune but every penny spent on it was worth it. The suit was a mesh of titanium and other alloy strings weaved together like one would when weaving normal fabrics, creating a suit that can stop most bullets without even looking like one. Appearance was out of the question though, the suit was still as stylish as most suits go.

He looked at the surroundings a last time; fresh corpses, discarded rifles and briefcases filled with cash. He won't do anything to the corpses, he'd let the cops discover it and make them think—God knows they surely need practice on that. The rifles, he had a lot of them made and he could manufacture, or steal, more if he wants to. The briefcases of cash, however, were something that he won't leave behind.

Rabbit took two briefcases in each hand, a hard thing to do but he'll manage, and started to walk towards the exit. He had thought to walk out and take the dead buyer's SUV but that mysterious red light coming from the back seats made him think otherwise.

Then he heard a wet gurgle.

Curious, Rabbit looked around and after seeing nothing worth looking for on his immediate surroundings he looked back at where the fresh corpses were at.

He wished he hadn't.

Blood were leaking out of the bullet wounds in each of the corpses in an unnatural way. Like there were faucets on each of their heads and those faucets were fully turned on, it was like that; blood spilling out like it was water and not blood. As if things weren't strange enough, the blood slowly formed into a shape, piling from the ground up into something—to Rabbit's horror—that was vaguely humanoid.

It continued for almost a minute, a minute that Rabbit could have used to bolt out of this place and drown the already-horrific events in a whole lot of liquor but for some odd and morbid reason, he stayed. The blood was no longer gushing forth from the wounds and the humanoid shape was now, as odd as it may sound, feminine.

The figure then shook itself, like a cat drying itself after getting wet. The blood didn't reach him but Rabbit took an instinctive step back and covered his head with one of the briefcases. When he looked back, he was surprised.

There was a woman where the bloody figure used to be. A woman with red hair tied into a ponytail and an attire that looked like what a cosplayer would have for lingerie. Steel armor reminiscent of Asian designs were on her shoulders and she also has bracers on top of a red cloth on her forearms, red high heels, something that looked like a cross between a loincloth and panties and her face was covered by a half-mask that continued like a red cloth that spread over her neck and beneath the armor on his shoulder. There were two tantos—ninja swords or something like that—at her back and her red eyes were focused on his.

Then she lunged.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm feeling pretty inspired lately, that could mean ****MANY ****things but here's TWO chapters for the followers, the favorite-rs and the passerbys XD**

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**II**

**The Very First Time**

Rabbit was surprised at how fast she was and he panicked when she took one of the tantos from her lower back. Her other hand however took something that looked like kunais from the straps on her leggings and threw it at him, particularly his face. He raised one briefcase to shield his face and was satisfied when he heard a thump that could only mean that the kunais embedded themselves on the briefcase and not his face.

His adversary wasn't finished though.

When he lowered his punctured briefcase the first thing he saw was the woman in red leaping towards him, holding her tantos high above her head, ready to slash down towards his mask and Rabbit was sure that those blades could slash through his mask. Instinct took over as Rabbit pummeled her with the briefcases on his other hand. The woman looked surprised for a moment, but she quickly brought her corresponding arm to block the steel briefcase. The attack didn't damage her and Rabbit knew that his counter-attack wasn't that strong but it did what he intended it to do; stop her momentum.

She landed on the ground awkwardly, her leap falling short and her attack failed. Rabbit threw his briefcases at her, hoping those would distract her, and those did, even if it was just for a short moment. She dodged the first one, rolling to the side and _slicing_ the second one in half, and just sidestepping to dodge the last two entirely.

He hadn't expected her speed at first, but he was sure that she didn't expect a veritable hand cannon of a pistol aimed at her face after her masterful dodges. The woman was quite shocked for a moment. Then Rabbit started blasting away.

The results were far from his expectations, and not—totally not—in a good way.

The bullets went past the woman's body as if she was made of liquid, liquid blood at that. Ripples instead of gun wounds was what he saw, and the fact that the woman was now running towards him only cemented the fact that she wasn't in the least bit injured by his bullets. It also cemented the fact that Francis was rightfully scared shitless.

Before he could even blink, the woman was upon him but instead of attacking using her tantos the woman attacked with a leaping side kick aimed at his neck. An attack that Rabbit saw coming even before she started preparing her leg to leap. An attack that Rabbit was all too familiar with using. An attack that Rabbit was very fond of using back in the good ol' days, so it was pretty easy to think that he knew how to dodge that sort of attack, or do something much better; counter it.

Francis jumped and kicked the woman on the chin while her foreleg struck his bicep and not his neck, which would be fatal. Nonetheless, the woman's attack hurt. A fact that he barely registered as his eyes were gazing at his opponent's, his opponent's slightly gazed eyes. He knew his counter-attack would be effective, but he didn't know how effective. Right now, he was greeted by the satisfactory sight of his aggressor falling heavily to the ground.

But not for long.

His eyes widened in surprise as the woman quickly recovered and lunged at him again, slashing his chest twice before he could fully hop backwards. He wasn't given room to breathe as the woman threw kunais at him. Only instinct and his, admittedly rusty, reflexes saved him from having his body pierced. And the kunais even nicked a portion of his suit! His reflexes are indeed rusty. Very rusty.

After he finished rolling, he was greeted to the sight of a foot striking his face. And then, darkness.

…

Skarlet wasn't pleased.

She wasn't unpleased at first. She was glad, ecstatic even, at the thought of fighting this mysterious 'dealer', as the earthrealmers she separately inhabited call. His words intrigued her yet it also confused her and put her on guard, words that were used and said cunningly. If Skarlet would have to compare it to someone she knew, it wouldn't be far from Quan Chi's cunning and mocking tone. And Quan Chi was a powerful being. A very powerful being that rules Netherrealm.

So she thought that maybe this earthrealmer would prove to be a challenging kill.

As it happens, he was not.

She thought, and even believed, that he was at first. That's why she showed herself to him and not assassinating him when he was walking towards the exit with those steel cases full of money. She threw her kunai as her preliminary attack, something that she doesn't do as often as she would have liked, to test this man they call 'Rabbit'.

He passed the test, though not in the way she expected. He had raised one of those steel cases to shield his face quickly but clumsily. That would have clued her on his fighting capabilities but she moved on; dashing and then lunging at him with her tantos. She was upon him when he lowered his improvised shield. He was slow but in her mind, she was egging him on to counter-attack and she honestly believed that this earthrealmer could do more before Skarlet ultimately kills him.

Then she saw the steel case heading towards her from the right and she instinctively blocked it with her right arm, forgoing the lunge to defend herself. If she had known that it wouldn't hurt her as she thought it would, she would have just went along with her attack, but her adversary played with her instincts and her block broke her momentum, making her fall with a thump to the floor. Yet she wasn't worried, instead she was joyful! The counter-attack he just did proved himself to her as a worthy opponent even if the attack was somehow underhanded. She mentally shrugged it off as an instinctive action, seeing that his hands were busy holding those steel containers.

When she looked back up, she was in for a surprise.

That advanced projectile weapon wielded by the Rabbit, 'pistol' as the weapon's creators and wielders the earthrealmers call it was aimed straight at her. Before she could even react, Rabbit fired. For a moment she thought that she would feel pain unimaginable, but her body was special; created from the bloods of warriors and former kombatants. The loud and noisy projectiles phased through her, only living ripples that were quickly gone.

She surely wasn't expecting him to attack that way, but she guessed that it was just how most earthrealmers do combat. Now that she has tested his opponent though, she no longer has to hold back. She dashed towards him and lunged towards him again, but this time using her full speed. Also, this time she tried a different sort of attack. She leapt using one feet and whipped her other towards his head, aimed more specifically at the man's neck.

Then the masked man retaliated, and his retaliation was both unexpected and painful.

Very painful.

She wasn't really sure what had happened, one moment she was in mid-air, fairly sure that her kick would strike her enemies neck quite painfully. The next moment, she was on the ground with no clue of what exactly happened, only that her chin hurt and her mind was a bit dizzy. She found her answer when she looked back at her adversary. The Rabbit's right leg was outstretched in a high kick as he slowly bended it back down.

Skarlet should have been ecstatic that her enemy was indeed worthy, instead she was enraged. How dare this mere earthrealmer strike her?

She lashed out, her tantos sliding out of the sheath almost automatically as she lunged towards her enemy. She settled into a familiar sequence of moves, one neither so complicated nor flamboyant but one that was simply devastating. Skarlet slashed twice at the Rabbit's chest and she threw a trio of kunais immediately afterwards. Her slashes connected but she was momentarily confused as to why he didn't bleed, she then remembered the technological advances of the denizens of this realm.

'His intricate suit must be some highly advanced suit of armor' she thought with a slight frown.

Rabbit made the motion to roll backwards and Skarlet rolled forwards. His roll would probably make him evade her thrown kunais so she attacked. When he finally ended his roll and stood up, Skarlet's reverse roundhouse kick connected with his mask—and by extension his face—with a supremely satisfying crunch.

Skarlet had thought for a while that this weapons dealer was a worthy opponent. Skarlet had thought that his blood might be a worthy addition to the plethora of warrior blood flowing through her veins. Skarlet had thought that there are earthrealmers that could match her and some of the other denizens of outworld in combat. Now she was sure that this realm would be easily taken by her master and creator. To her, the tenth mortal kombat tournament was already over wi—

Skarlet heard a laugh, a maniacal laugh that made her immediately turn around.

What she saw surprised her.

It was Rabbit. His mask dirtied and dented and his intricate clothes slightly tattered, yet he was leaping towards her. The weapons dealer's left knee contracted and ready to whip out and deliver a roundhouse kick. Skarlet raised her left arm to block and braced herself for there was nothing that she could do in return. She was caught off guard and she hated herself for being careless. But still, how could he be standing? Wasn't the crunch she heard earlier his skull breaking?

When his kick connected, Skarlet was surprised again. This time by the sheer power behind her opponent's kick. The woman made of blood stumbled sideways, her block broken but she didn't stay idle for more than a second. She knows that staying idle in a fight would be deadly, and she no longer underestimates the one she's fighting. After she steadied her feet, she delivered a powerful palm aimed at the man's mask.

Rabbit dodged it.

And she found herself doubling over as she received a foreleg striking her abdomen almost as immediate as she attacked. She was shocked to note that her feet left the ground without any action on her part. The force behind his kick was something that surprised her, she never thought that an earthrealmer could put that much power behind a kick. It also gave her some sort of epiphany. As she doubled over in pain, Skarlet realized that she had been underestimating his enemy, and his race in general, even when she thought that she was giving his supposedly unworthy opponent a chance, she still was actually underestimating him.

She resolved to never do it again.

When her feet touched the ground again, Skarlet made her move. She swiped her open palm, the open palm that missed her enemy's head, towards his opponent's temple and on the same time, she tripped his legs. Rabbit didn't fall, as she expected, he turned his fall into a cartwheel. He immediately retaliated with a high kick aimed at her head, an attack which Skarlet dodged by hopping backwards. Her enemy proved to be tenacious as he followed up his high kick with a series of roundhouses that started from her hips, to her ribs, then to her head.

Skarlet got struck in the hips and it hurt, but she blocked the one that was aimed at her ribs while she ducked to evade the kick to her head. She followed her dodge with a quick punch to the head and a palm, her opponent dodged the fist but the quickness of the palm didn't give him that much time to dodge a second time.

Their battle continued like this; a series of attacks and counter-attacks seemingly without end, where the only strikes that connect were those that weren't critical. Skarlet had a nagging thought that Rabbit was sacrificing himself to be struck with the weaker attacks to block, counter-attack or dodge the more powerful and effective attacks. It probably was true, Skarlet was doing the same.

Skarlet's blade nearly slashed Rabbit's jugular, but her masked opponent dodged, he arched his back, in the nick of time. His counter-attack was to kick her fist, also kicking her tanto out of her hand. She didn't let herself be disarmed though as she snatched the tanto in the air while back-flipping. When she returned to the ground, she let loose a ball made of her own dangerous blood. Rabbit obviously dodged it, even she knew that he doesn't exactly know what it was.

They were panting, but they were somehow feeling more alive.

'He was indeed worthy', Skarlet thought as she caught her breath.

Suddenly, Rabbit laughed.

Skarlet simply readied her blade, preparing herself for his eventual attack. Or if he won't, he was preparing herself for her own attack.

She didn't expect him to talk though.

"I find this little dance of ours to be amusing" he stated, opening his arms quite flamboyantly before continuing to pant.

"Don't you find this amusing?" he then asked her and Skarlet found his tone to be slightly annoying. She also noted that his tone held a pinch of slyness, and a pinch of, what seems to be … insanity.

Skarlet narrowed her eyes and answered, "I do not talk with my prey".

He chuckled before he replied, his tone sly and cheeky. "Well you certainly did just now!"

"Enough talk!" she snarled as she dashed towards her enemy, blades at the ready.

"Whatever you say, my dear" was Rabbit's snarky reply before he too, rushed forward to meet her.

Skarlet went in low, her blades ready to carve a bloody cross in his body while her enemy, the Rabbit went in high, leaping when he was near enough and stretching his right leg—his favored leg—skywards, something that Skarlet knew to be a devastating attack when he lowers that leg towards his enemy. She thought that it was called axe kick or something.

Then the strangest thing happened.

Before they could connect with either attacks, a blinding light emerged from all around them. Skarlet knew what was going on, but she cursed the ill-timing. This teleportation spell would deprive her of the only worthy kill she has found ever since she was created. Then she noticed that Rabbit's attack did connect, only that it was blocked by her hands out of instinct. She noticed with a considerable amount of surprise, that his leg was starting to vanish, as were the fists she used to block his kick.

The light was gone and color returned to the surroundings. Dim colors, where lights were coming from fiery braziers and none too bright lamps.

"I find myself confused" Rabbit said, breaking the silence of the place. "Very confused"


	3. Chapter 3

**III**

**A Taste of Insanity**

"I find myself confused" Rabbit said. "Very confused"

He was indeed confused and this was the confusion of the 'hard to comprehend' sort. What he saw in his eyes makes little sense to his brain and he doesn't like what it means. It means that he was clueless and the thing that he despises the most was being clueless. Being clueless to him is synonymous to danger, it was a state that he rarely experiences because he does his absolute best just to keep himself from being clueless. Yet appearances need to be kept, and the visage of the ridiculously masked Rabbit on the outside was confident, even if the man behind the mask was quite unsure.

He looked around and his confusion only grew. There were a variety of interesting individuals wearing equally interesting attire. There was a man that looked like a ninja for example, clad in yellow-themed armor and with two katanas on the man's back. There was also a man similarly dressed a little bit far away from the yellow one, and this one was blue, though Rabbit was sure that the blue one was of a more Chinese design than the yellow one, who looked positively Japanese. There was also a man that was dressed like Bruce Lee on a movie standing beside a man with an interesting straw hat who exuded a rather … regal aura.

Then he saw a movie star.

Rabbit grinned under his mask when he saw Johnny Cage. He doesn't know the man in person, but he once had secretly funded one of the guy's movie, solely in the hopes of extending his influence, and by extension his business, to Hollywood. Unfortunately, he failed. Drug competition was tough in Los Angeles. But what really caught his attention was the old man sitting on some sort of a throne, but he was staring more on the scantily clad women sitting on each side of him. One was wearing intricate blue clothing and there were some sort of fans attached to her hips, a blue half-mask on her face and a tiara on her head. On the other side was a woman wearing similar clothing with some slight modifications, mainly the coloration of her clothes, she wore green unlike the other one which was blue.

They caught his eyes not only because they look like living goddesses, but because they look like the woman in red.

Speaking of the woman in red …

"I was wondering when you'll attack" Rabbit said as he ducked and delivered a sweep kick to the woman's legs. He saw that she had attacked using her tantos and it opened her feet for many attacks. She didn't trip though, instead she turned her fall into a cartwheel. Just like what he did earlier in their fight.

Her only reply was a grunt before she slashed; starting from his abdomen rising upwards to his chin. Skipping to his left, the woman made of blood's attack missed completely as he delivered a reverse roundhouse kick which his enemy blocked, as expected. Then, to Rabbit's surprise, his enemy also did a reverse roundhouse kick and it struck his mask. His mask didn't shatter, it was made of tougher materials but her kick disoriented him for a while. He recovered in time to spot the woman leaping, her tantos falling towards him to jab him either in the chest or the shoulders. He didn't want to know which.

He parted her nearly joined hands, opening the way towards her torso and making the attack miss by a wide margin while Rabbit's right leg lashed forward in a devastating kick towards her abdomen. Surprise was obvious on her face and Rabbit was quite satisfied that he finally ended the cycle of counter-attacks that they have danced through.

She fell towards the floor in a heap, but she stood again, this time more slowly and with one hand clutching her abdomen, hateful eyes staring at his visor.

In other words, it's time to taunt.

"I'm sorry, dear" he said in a faux sweet tone, obviously in mockery. "Did it hurt?"

"You'll die" she promised through gritted teeth, "Painfully" she added in a grim promise.

"ENOUGH!"

The smile that was starting to form underneath his mask vanished as he slowly and lazily turned his head towards the source; the old man on the throne. By no means was he glad of the interruption. The fight was starting to get truly interesting.

"I'm sorry but can't you see we're busy?" Rabbit asked, annoyed.

"Do not interfere in this, Shang Tsung!" his enemy snarled and now he has a name for the annoying old man. "This is my kill!"

Rabbit raised a brow, though no one—obviously—saw it. 'Kill?'

Before Rabbit could spout a snarky quip or two, the old man rose and his face was contorted in anger. What was disturbing about his face was that the old man's eyes were glowing green. Rabbit quickly tensed and became alert, though it wasn't obvious on the outside. Again, appearances need to be kept.

"You **DARE** interfere in the Mortal Kombat Tournament!?" Shang Tsung said, his voice dangerously rising in anger, there were baleful flames on each of his hands and that obviously wasn't a good sign. He saw the woman in red throw something that looked like blood towards him earlier so he wasn't that surprised to see that this Shang Tsung wasn't your normal and mundane old chinese man.

"Cool effects"

Rabbit didn't need to turn around to know that it was Johnny Cage. He obviously won't believe that those were true green flames at first.

Then Shang Tsung threw one of the flames at him.

Rabbit held no illusions that his suit could take those flames without damage, he dodged by rolling to the side. The green fireball struck the ground and it exploded and Rabbit felt an unnatural heat and force from the explosion. There was no smoke and he saw that his red-clad opponent was alive and standing still, glaring at the old man. As he stood, the old man looked at the both of them, a smug look on his face.

"You missed" he deadpanned, and Shang Tsung's smug face vanished.

Rabbit knew that, one day, he will get to smash that face with his feet.

"You interfered in this Mortal Kombat Tournament" he looked at the both of us. "It is punishable by death, but I want you two to suffer, not die"

Rabbit could only tilt his head sideways, he wasn't in the least bit frightened by the words. He wasn't afraid of death, nor torture.

"Instead, the two of you will fight in the tournament"

Now Rabbit was surprised. Fighting in a tournament was something that he didn't expect, it was also something that he hasn't done in years. He shook his head, memories like those were something that he doesn't want to relive as of the moment.

'Still, it was better than death' he thought as he looked at his opponent; the woman in scarlet. She had unknowingly awakened his love to fight, and he was thankful to her for it. If she will include herself in the tournament, Rabbit will too.

Their fight was unfinished and he means to finish it properly.

"We're still not done yet, earthrealmer" the woman said as she walked off to the side of this stage they were standing in (something that he just noticed) and leapt off the ledge.

"Of course, my dear" he said, "I look forward to our next fight"

With those flamboyantly said words, Rabbit walk to the opposite side of the arena. Sighting the movie star Johnny Cage flirting with someone that looks like from the military. If the military was wearing a bra that looks like a combat vest. No wonder Cage was flirting with her.

He also knew her from a safety standpoint. That means that he knows her because he has to make a run for it if he spots her on a deal.

They will hopefully be a source of entertainment for him.

…

Sonya Blade was getting increasingly annoyed.

Her thoughts were focused at the unexpected spectacle that happened in the arena, and by extension, to the possibly insane and weird man that was now walking towards her direction. She, and likely the others in the surrounding area, was surprised when, in a flash of blinding light, two people appeared in the arena. One was wearing a three-piece suit and a ridiculous rabbit mask while the other was a pale woman wearing what she could only label as a swimsuit, she didn't fail to note that the woman's appearance was similar to the ones that were standing beside their 'host'.

"Hey there, babe" And there goes her source of annoyance. "Name's Johnny Cage, you may have heard of me …"

"No" Sonya said, hoping that this obnoxious movie actor would get the hint and lay off.

"No? I think I'm kinda fam—"

Something black fell in the space between Sonya and the obnoxious actor known as Johnny Cage, cutting his bragging off. She might have been relieved or elated that the actor has stopped talking if she wasn't spooked by whatever that black thing was! Her thoughts focused and her heart rate relatively back to normal, the blonde realized that the 'black thing' was the man in the bunny mask.

"I'm sorry did I interrupt something?" he said and Sonya was mildly surprised by how smooth his voice was. He was also mildly surprised by what he said. To her, it was like the guy was trying to annoy Johnny Cage.

"Yeah, chum" If he was annoying him then it was apparently very effective. "I'm trying to make the moves here, know what I mean?"

"Yet you're clearly agitating Ms …?" His reply to Cage turned into a question for her.

Sonya narrowed her eyes and briefly thought if she should tell him his name or not. She decided to tell him. "Blade. Sonya Blade"

"You're clearly agitating Ms. Blade, Johnny Carlton" he said.

'Johnny Cage's true last name is Carlton?' Sonya thought. No wonder he goes by 'Cage'. Good thing that her last name was kinda cool.

"Finally! Someone that knows who I am!" he exclaimed, then he realized something. "Wait! How'd you know my name!?"

"Oh it doesn't really matter how I know your name, Mr. Carlton" the man said, "What matters is that I _know_ who you really are"

With those words said, the man more infamously known as Johnny Cage walked out away from the man in the bunny mask and, by extension, Sonya.

She watched as Johnny Cage walked farther away from her and stood beside someone that looks like a ninja in yellow armor. Said guy glared at Johnny Cage and the latter raised his hands in defeat and moved away again, farther away and out of Sonya's line of sight. In a way she felt pity for the obnoxious man, very little pity.

"Now that Mr. Carlton has left us in peace" the man in the mask started, "I would like to ask a favor, Ms. Blade"

Sonya could only raise a brow in response. She doesn't know much about the guy, not even the guy's name and here he was, asking a favor out of her. She wasn't sure what to feel or what to do about it.

Before she could utter a response however, the man spoke again. "Would you kindly not arrest me for the whole duration of this tournament?"

The way he spoke his proposition so kindly made her more suspicious than the fact that he basically told her that he's a criminal but the way he said it made her unsure. Only a man who was not afraid could have the tone of voice that this man uses. To Sonya, it made him dangerous … or foolish. She needs to put a name to that mask of his.

"Why?" Sonya asked, narrowing her eyes. "Who are you, anyway?"

"People call me Rabbit, Ms. Blade" he replied in the same tone of voice, bowing shortly afterwards. "You may have heard of me"

Sonya tensed, she has heard of him indeed. Rabbit, one of Interpol's most wanted criminals. That directly translates that he's one of the most skilled, elusive and, most importantly, dangerous men on the whole planet. Rabbit is one of the most important men to apprehend because he was a drug dealer _and_ a weapons dealer. So far the only big shot dealer that hasn't been apprehended, targeted and even found in the whole world. He was so good that he was considered a legend, not only in the criminal underground, but even in the Interpol, where cops and other people were starting to respect his reputation. And his mask.

Sonya was mentally slapping herself by the fact that she hadn't noticed that iconic mask of his. That mask was the only thing that indicates Rabbit, and she hadn't noticed it.

Realizing that Rabbit was waiting for the answer, Sonya spoke, though not without difficulty. "I have heard of you"

He clapped his hands, and the action made her tense for a while, right before calming herself that he was here to ask a favor and not to stuff drugs on her rotting body. "Wonderful! Then will you do me the favour that I asked of you, Ms. Blade?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I'll think about it"

"Please do" was his immediate response. Sonya might have replied but Shang Tsung was starting to talk again.

…

Satisfied with her words, Rabbit returned his attention to the old man named Shang Tsung, who was starting to speak again.

"Before the tournament begins …"

Rabbit drowned out the old man's words, which obviously were the rules and regulations of this tournament. He didn't need to know what those rules were, everything was blatantly obvious to the dealer.

Kill or be killed.

That was the theme of this tournament of epically unusual proportions. How he found this out was quite simple; Shang Tsung stopped him and the woman he was fighting because they were interrupting the tournament that he hosts and not because they were killing each other. Well, in the red-clad woman's thoughts probably, Rabbit just wants to live another day. Then Shang Tsung through mystical projectiles at him, obviously with the intention of killing him, he only lived because of his reflexes, his rusty reflexes.

This tournament was totally unlike the tournaments that he had participated in when he was younger and a whole lot more innocent. This was a type of tournament that Rabbit sometimes funds when he was bored and bloodsport took his fancy. It was like an underground deathmatch. No holds barred and with little rules in terms of restrictions, this tournament was like that. And the fact that most, if not all, of the participants have some sort of mystical abilities like the woman that accidentally introduced her to this deathmatch and Shang Tsung.

"Fights happen every noon but any kombatant can challenge another anytime as long as the challenged wishes to fight" Shang Tsung said as he looked around the room. "I am the only one that can dictate challenges and no one else"

"For now, dinner has been prepared along with your respective rooms" Shang Tsung beckoned at the table first then he beckoned at a monk—at least in Rabbit's eyes they were monks. "Kindly approach or ask for a servant to guide you to your room"

Rabbit wasn't in the mood for dinner and it's not because he doesn't have the appetite but because he's sure that dinner would be a time for socializing and mingling, a time for forming factions and finding allies amidst a place of enemies. Gears were turning inside Rabbit's mind, a dangerous and diabolical mind as the urban legends about him too often say, and in his mind, the socializing aspect of his stay would have to wait for a while. Instead, Rabbit asked for a servant to lead him into his room.

The room wasn't really much. The room was as large as a traveller inn's room, which isn't really that large. There was a bed that was—quite curiously—good for two people and then there was a drawer on the rightmost side of the little room. Instead of fluorescent lights or whatnot, braziers around the room provided light and warmth.

Rabbit took off his mask and he was the drug and weapons dealer called Rabbit no more, he was just Francis; an apparently—and admittedly—insane man with an appetite for danger and a body addicted to adrenaline and fight.

With the thought of battles ahead with the interesting characters in this … whatever this place is, Francis slowly drifted to sleep. Yet not before thinking of the interesting woman in red lingerie that accidentally brought him to this tournament.

* * *

**Hey, reader! Would you kindly leave a review? It is much appreciated and much NEEDED! Writer's fuel and all that stuff :)**


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